


Visions in the dark

by Mousekins



Category: Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound, Mother 3
Genre: Established Relationship, Hallucinations, M/M, Visions, blood mention, fanfic of a fanfic, having a bad time TM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 09:11:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18825622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mousekins/pseuds/Mousekins
Summary: Ness has been stuck in this world for far too long, the impact of Giygas lingers with him, and Lucas is concerned that the hallucinations are slowly consuming him.So he helps in any way he can.





	Visions in the dark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MinishMae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinishMae/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Everlasting Night](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17707262) by [MinishMae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinishMae/pseuds/MinishMae). 



The only illumination present is the soft flicker of the candle beside them, its glow provided no warmth, but his hand was clammy with heat anyway. A part of him imagines the candle falling over and bathing Lucas in brilliant reds and glorious oranges, it imagines him sprouting wings of flame against burned skin and his tears would fizzle against slowly exposing flesh. Ness imagines how Lucas’ beautiful azure eyes would swim in their own moisture, and a part of him comes to the conclusion that he definitely needs more sleep.   
  


Lucas’ eyes search him for a moment, concern twisting at his features as he takes his hand into his own, the cool skin flat against his palm and strangely grounding him. Ness squeezes Lucas’ hand, and stops when he vividly sees the other’s appendage turn to dust in the forefront of his mind. He swallows thickly as he pictures Lucas’s bruises spreading across his skin, and his breath shakes when he feels the gentle ebbings of the blonde’s PSI tickling along his fingertips.   
  


“Ness?” His voice is gentle like chimes, melodious and sweet. He pictures insects crawling from Lucas’s slightly opened mouth and squints his eyes as closed as they can go. He knows they’re not real, he knows that when he pictures Lucas dead-eyed and staring, when he imagines the other’s mangled limbs and ashen corpse, it’s not real.   
  


__ It’s not real.  
  


“It’s not real.” His eyes shoot open to look at Lucas, who inclines his head, his eyebrow raising inquisitively. The worry is much more apparent now. “Ness, are you okay?” Lucas leans forward, and Ness’ mind reels backwards. He almost falls off his chair as dizziness hits him square in the face, and he realises that maybe, just maybe, his paranoid mind was being overactive.    
  


Ness shakes his head. No.    
  


“I know it’s not real.” Ness says, and Lucas blinks at him. “You said so yoursel--”   
  


“Nobody’s said anything.” Lucas interrupts, and Ness grips at the table. He feels his blood dripping from his fingers, he feels it dripping from his eyes, his ears, his mouth and-- Lucas’s hand is on his face. The sensations don’t stop, but even as he chokes back a noise, Lucas’s PSI tingles against his face, the new stimulation providing an escape.   
  


He remembers the pain of the rocks, the numbing of his body, and he bites down on his lip to rid himself of the memories- they flood back harder. “Ness, talk to me.” Lucas instructs, and Ness looks at him as if to confirm he just said something. Lucas nods.    
  


“My name is Ness,” Lucas smiles approvingly, stroking along his cheekbone. “I’m 17 years old, I have a sister called Tracey,” Ness swallows thickly again, the taste of copper is on his tongue and Lucas’ other hand raises to dab gently at the wound. It was real. “My Mom made amazing steaks because it’s my favourite food, and…” He inhales.   
  


“I caused the world to go into darkness,” Ness closes his eyes, “My friends are Paula, Jeff, and Poo.” His eyes open again, thankful that Lucas is still present, the candle’s flickering light highlighting his soft features and his blonde hair. “This is real, my mind is playing tricks on me, and my boyfriend is the bestest person I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting in this literal hellscape.”    
  


Lucas smiles wide at his cheesy ending, and Ness can’t stop himself when he reflects the smile right back. Lucas’ grin turns too wide, too sharp-toothed, and Ness’ eyes squint shut. “You saw me grinning, didn’t you?” Lucas’ voice is calming, like the river that had swallowed him whole. He remembers the blissful feeling of death, the strange sensation of breathing again, and a part of him wants to feel that same euphoria once more.   
  


“Yeah.”    
  


“How long?”    
  


Ness chokes back a sob. “Too long.”    
  


It’s not a timeframe, it’s not the answer Lucas was looking for, but Lucas accepts it anyway as he holds his crumbled hand and leads him over to the bed. The darkness was going to drive him insane, without any proper light to really tell what was happening around him, his tired mind filled in the blanks, and those blanks were not friendly. He’d seen wolves in the night, he’d see Lucas melting and calling his name, he’d see claws and teeth that weren’t there, he’d feel rushing water and the clamp of something around his ankle.    
  


He flinches when Lucas curls up next to him and kisses his forehead, smoothing over his hair and murmuring little hushes and quiet words to distract his mind. He turns over in the bed to cuddle into Lucas’ chest, the rhythmic heartbeat providing him focus even as it turns loud and fleshy in his ears, even as he envisions the pounding of footsteps against dirt and--   
  


Ness inhales deeply and pulls himself closer to the bundle of warmth beside him.   
  


He awakens to the sound of teeth and claws and the feeling of saliva on his face, his body is gripped harder and Lucas’s voice fills his ears with his kind voice and gentle kisses. Ness feels hot tears drip down his face, he feels the overwhelming anxiety curdling in his stomach and turning his insides sour. Ness hates this, he hates the feeling of Giygas’ presence in everything, and Lucas tips his chin up to press a gentle kiss to his lips.   
  


It doesn’t help, but Lucas was trying his best to block the noises out of his ears. He was trying to help him regain his senses in any way he could, and his heart swells knowing that Lucas is just  _ trying _ .    
  


He presses a bottle of water into his hands, and Ness is thankful that Lucas had passed him a bottle over a glass. He fears a glass may have shattered against his skin, and he gulps the water down with ferocity in an attempt to get the image of tiny shards of glass embedded into his bleeding hands. He finds himself gasping for air again, the whole bottle emptied into the contents of his stomach and the crinkling of the plastic filling their mutual silence.   
  


Ness finds the silence too loud, and Lucas passes him a flask of soup. He accepts it gratefully as Lucas spoons his out of a polystyrene bowl. Even in the dim candlelight Ness can tell that Lucas doesn’t have a lot in his bowl, and he wants to chide the blonde for not feeding himself properly.   
  


“I gave the other half to you.” Lucas murmurs after swallowing, a little smile playing on his lips. Ness returns the smile, and Lucas’s face doesn’t shift into strange shapes. Ness tastes something strange on his tongue, acidic and unpleasant, so he starts to eat his soup and the taste fades to be replaced with that of broth and vegetables. “Are you okay?”    
  


“Better.”    
  


“Good.”    
  


They eat more, and Ness’ curiosity is piqued. The fire no longer spreads, the shadows don’t flicker in the same way, and blood isn’t dripping across the floor. He no longer feels the numbness of the rocks and the biting of metal teeth against his ankles. He looks to Lucas, and Lucas smiles back at him, the warmth in his eyes no longer spilling infernos and blistered skin.    
  


He recalls the strange taste of the water, and tugs Lucas into a gentle kiss. Lucas laughs as he comes to the realisation that Ness caught him slipping medication into his water.   
  


_ Clever fucker. _

**Author's Note:**

> I called this fic 'halluty dooties in the face of derkness' and it made me laugh when I opened the file again, you're welcome.
> 
> Written for MinishMae because I needed some more suffering in my life and her apocalypse AU was a perfect way to get the angst out. Just to be clear: Lucas put medication in Ness's water, and so the hallucinations stopped. I shared it and my friends all thought Lucas killed Ness or something. 
> 
> Trust me if he was dying I'd have written as much ;^)


End file.
